JAL incurs red in FY 2008 on air traffic shrinkage, plans job cuts+

TOKYO, May 12 Kyodo -
Japan Airlines Corp. said Tuesday its group net balance fell into the red in
fiscal 2008 with a loss of 63.19 billion yen against the previous year's 16.92
billion yen profit due to reduced air traffic amid the global economic
downturn.

The airline said it will take restructuring measures including reducing its
workforce by 1,200 people by the end of the current business year through next
March in a bid to forestall further deterioration in its financial profile.
In an earnings statement for the 12-month period to March 31, the Japanese flag
carrier said it took blows particularly from a plunge in the number of
international business travelers.
JAL also said its pretax balance showed a loss of 82.18 billion yen against a
68.82 billion yen profit in fiscal 2007, on a 12.5 percent operating revenue
dive to 1.95 trillion yen.
Revenue from its international passenger business fell 6.7 percent to 703.5
billion yen, while that from domestic passengers sagged 1.6 percent to 666.5
billion yen.
The airline booked an operating loss of 50.88 billion yen in fiscal 2008
against the previous year's 90.01 billion yen profit.
The workforce reduction will be implemented basically through an attrition
program. But if the envisioned scale of cuts cannot be actualized through
attrition, JAL will implement an early-retirement program, it said.
The airline will cut back on annual expenses by 53 billion yen during the
current business year through a range of cost-cutting measures including parts
procurement cutbacks.
For the current business year, JAL expects a further 10.4 percent operating
revenue fall to 1.75 trillion yen with net and pretax losses respectively
amounting to 63 billion yen and 108 billion yen.
But industry watchers cautioned that the airline's losses would balloon further
beyond current expectations if the new strain of influenza scares away more
people from air travel.
==Kyodo